Truth and Ley
The Manchester Guardian has done a useful service in republishing an article in the Angriff by Dr. Ley, the head of the German Labour Front. With elaborate mendacity and concentrated abuse we are familiar enough in the utter- ances, spoken and written, of Nazi leaders, but for sheer puerile ignorance this particular production is something of a revelation. Dr. Ley is instructing his readers on the essen- tials of the fabric of the British policy. About twenty families—" the Chamberlains, the Churchills, the Baldwins, &c."—rule England, and the masses are kept subservient through voluntary welfare work and charity, organised mainly by the High Church (which seems a little odd since the dominant strain in British life is Puritanism. " Money- bags and hypocrisy, Puritanism and brutality, decide the fate of every Englishman "). The effect of this calculated benevo- lence is that " there is in England no public assistance, no social insurance, no Labour Exchanges. In a word any Englishman who is unfortunate enough to lose his livelihood by accident, illness, old age or unemployment, is thrown on to the mercy of these private, so-called ' Christian welfare' institutions." Dr. Ley must know, for he visited England less than a year ago, and no doubt took full opportunity, as his official position would demand, to study our (non- existent) social institutions.
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